


Christmas Cookies

by The_Tevinter_Biscuit



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Genre: Bakery, Baking, Christmas, Christmas Cookies, Christmas Fluff, Competition, Fluff, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-11
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-13 12:56:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12984546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Tevinter_Biscuit/pseuds/The_Tevinter_Biscuit
Summary: There's a Christmas Baking competition coming up at Hawke's workplace. He's already boasted that he's the best baker in the world, but truthfully he can't bake for the life of him. It's a good thing his neighbour seems to be excellent at it and willing to help.





	Christmas Cookies

**Author's Note:**

> written for the christmas prompt: At work, we have a competition in bringing the best Christmas cookies, I told everyone I’d win, but I can’t bake anything without burning the house down. I noticed your apartment always smells deliciously sweet, you’re probably a cookie genius, so I’ll ask you for help.
> 
> also for FAM2k17 (Fenris Appreciation Month) on tumblr and day 10: Fenhawke!
> 
> enjoy!

In the office, Hawke sat at his desk staring at the flyer for the Christmas Baking competition. The rules were simple, bring in your best batch of homemade Christmas cookie and the winner gets a cash prize. They always did little contests, a bit of competition was healthy, and Hawke always participated in them. There was simply one problem with this year’s competition. He was absolutely hopeless at baking. His fingers were far too big, and everything burnt because he’d get distracted by something, usually his dog. He couldn’t even imagine trying to decorate them, he was definitely no artist. Last time he’d tried to make Christmas cookies, the Christmas trees just looked like big fat green blobs. Needless to say, this year was going to be difficult.

“Oh Hawke! Are you entering the Christmas Baking competition?” Merrill’s chipper voice from over his shoulder knocked him out of his thoughts. She beamed at him with her ever-present cheerfulness, like she radiated sunshine and rainbows. “I’m so excited! I love baking.”

The competition would definitely be tough if Merrill was participating. It was no secret that she had a knack for baking, often bringing in little homemade cupcakes for the office and was always the one left in charge of birthday cakes. Beating her at a Christmas Baking competition wouldn’t be no easy feat.

“Yeah, I was thinking about it,” he said, eyes shifting back to the flyer in his hands.

“This’ll be so much fun! Do you like baking?” Merrill asked, suddenly interested.

Hawke cleared his throat. He couldn’t show any weakness, he did want that money after all. So, he said the worst thing he could’ve possibly came out with in a situation like this: “Yeah, of course. I bake all the time. In fact, I’m the best baker in the world.”

 _Maker, why did he say that?_ He was already inwardly cursing at himself as Merrill just continued to smile at him. Why didn’t he just pick up the shovel now as he was already digging himself a grave with his fingers? All he’d done is place expectations on himself. Now she would be expecting him to make some excellent cookies and knowing Merrill, she was going to tell the entire office about this. He’d really gotten himself into a mess.

“Really? Well that’s wonderful! I’m looking forward to it Hawke,” she giggled, patting him on the shoulder and turning on her heels to head over to the copier. Hawke let out a long deep breath when she walked away, slumping in his chair.

He was either going to have to suddenly learn to bake or find some other way to make the best cookies in the world.

 

On the way home, he picked up some Christmas themed cookbooks from the store and took them home with him. By the time the weekend came, he finally had time to sit down and study the recipes for cookies. He picked up all the ingredients when he went on his usual grocery shopping trip and set them all out on his kitchen counter.

“You can do this Hawke,” he told himself as he got out the appropriate equipment and began putting things together.

He spent hours upon hours trying to make the perfect batch of cookies, but he just couldn’t seem to get it right. There were either too soft or too hard, one batch were even completely burnt. The decorations weren’t much better either, he’d made a mess of the icing. He sighed and took a seat, figuring that he might as well give up. The competition was due on Monday. What was he supposed to do? Everyone at work was going to think he was a liar if he didn’t show up with something good.

Oh well, it was still Saturday. He still had tomorrow to try and perfect it. His dog, Biscuit, woke him up by barking. Must want to go out, he figured. Hawke reluctantly pulled himself back onto his feet and opened the back door for Biscuit to run out.

When he stepped out into the cold winter air, he smelled something sweet in the air. What…was that? He walked over and peered over the fence to look at his neighbour’s house. One of the windows to his house was wide open and the light from what looked like the kitchen shone through. A figure stood in the light, oven gloves on his hands as he placed a tray of cookies out on the kitchen counter. Hawke watched with fascination as he iced the cookies with expert skill.

_This was a little creepy, wasn’t it?_

He had to draw his eyes away when Biscuit started barking at him, obviously ready to go back inside. His mind was occupied by thoughts of the neighbour and his cookies. Of course, he’d met the guy once or twice. What was his name again? Fen…Fenris? Something like that. He mostly kept to himself, so they didn’t talk much, even though Hawke stole every opportunity to that he could. After all, the fact that he was a mystery only made him more interesting. Plus, from what he could remember, he was _really_ cute. Now it seemed like he could bake cookies too.

Wait.

That was it.

Hawke could just ask Fenris (Maker he hoped that was his name) to help him back cookies for the Christmas Baking competition. If those cookies tasted anywhere as good as they smelled, he was sure to blow everyone away with those fantastic baked good, then he wouldn’t look like an idiot in front of the entire office.

It was getting pretty late out so Hawke figured he would wait until morning to go over and talk to him. That was the only reason, it definitely had nothing to do with the fact that he’d barely spoken to this man and he was attractive. What if he was a serial killer or something? No, they’d lived next to each other for a while, he figured he’d probably know if he was one by now.

 

True to his word, Hawke eventually built up the courage to walk up to Fenris’s front door. Looking at the outside of his house, it looked very similar to his own. However, just a quick look told him that it was significantly more barren than his own. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door and waited.

There was a fuss from inside but then the door finally opened. Hawke had definitely forgotten just how cute this Fenris guy was when he was now staring directly at him. Strong jawline, flat nose, enchantingly beautiful green eyes, and silver white hair. He was breath-taking. Through the window last night, he hadn’t been able to get this good of a look at him. Hawke almost forgot himself for a moment.

“Can I help you?” Fenris said, raising an eyebrow at Hawke who was gaping in awe.

“Oh, uh, yes,” Hawke replied, quickly shutting his mouth. He cleared his throat as he prepared himself for potential rejection. “I’m Hawke, your neighbour? I live right over there,” he gestured to his house. “I let my dog out last night and I thought I could smell you baking something, it smelled really good by the way. And you see, there’s competition at my work to bake the best Christmas cookies, cash prize and everything. I told everyone that I was the best baker in the world but uh…I’m actually pretty hopeless. I was just wondering if you could _please_ be my saving grace and help me make some cookies? I’m more than happy to split the cash prize if we win.”

Fenris stared at him for a moment, drinking in the words he’d just said. He had thought that someone was looking through his window last night when he was icing his own cookies, but he’d put it down to his own paranoid mind playing tricks on him.

“You…want me to help you make cookies?” he asked slowly. He didn’t usually let people into his home, the truth was he didn’t have many friends. His therapy counsellor had been telling him to put himself out there more. This seemed like an opportunity served on a silver platter, almost too good to be true.

He tried to assess what he knew about Hawke. He had a dog, the one he’d spoken of, but he’d seen him running around before. With the neighbour on his other side, he seemed to be quite friendly. He heard them chatting sometimes in the morning when he went to collect his mail. It was also worth noting that he was a decently handsome man. There was no reason for him to suspect any ill intentions. Besides, it wasn’t like he had any plans for today anyway. Sundays were usually pretty quiet.

“Please,” Hawke said. “It would mean so much to me if you would help me out.”

In the end, Fenris gave in. He sighed and opened the door wide enough for Hawke to come inside. Then he said: “Okay. One chance. Come in now and we’ll do it now.”

Hawke looked at him gone out, as if he wasn’t expecting that kind of reaction. However, he quickly barrelled inside the house and was already looking around. Fenris dearly hoped he hadn’t made a horrible choice by letting this man into his home. Well, what’s the worst that could happen?

He guided him into the kitchen and showed him to where he kept all his baking supplies. It had been a bit of a secret hobby of his, it wasn’t like you went around telling everyone you knew that you loved to bake. He wasn’t ashamed of it, just seemed like an unnecessary fact about himself. People would then expect to eat his baked goods when he made him solely for himself. He’d always had a bit of a sweet tooth after all.

“Thank you for doing this for me, seriously,” Hawke mentioned, looking all over his kitchen. Fenris simply nodded at him and began setting out everything he needed for the cookies on the counter top.

It was lucky that he’d made cookies the day before, he still had enough of the ingredients to make another batch. He’d been hoping to make some more a little later in the Christmas season, but he supposed he could always buy more. Hawke could reimburse him for that, he figured, and pay for the trouble he was having him go to for his competition at work or whatever. He gestured for Hawke to join him by the kitchen counter that had everything set up. Hawke was so very tall, much taller than him. Feeling him breathe down the back of his neck when he stood so close to him shouldn’t have given him so many tingles. He did his best to ignore it and focus on the cookie-making.

“I’m going to explain what to do and you’re going to do it, alright?” Fenris said, staring down at the ingredients rather than looking up at Hawke. His heart was already racing, and he couldn’t tell why.

“Okay,” Hawke said confidently, nodding.

Fenris had never taught someone something before, at least not like this. He wasn’t sure how good of a teacher he would be, considering he was often impatient and hot-headed when things didn’t go the way he wanted them to. It would be easy to get frustrated with Hawke if he was as bad at baking as he claimed to be. However, these negative qualities were yet to be seen. He pushed a bowl and spoon towards him along with the scales and two ingredients: butter and sugar.

“Your first job is simple. Measure out one hundred grams of butter and sugar, then put them in that bowl,” Fenris said, pointing at the scales then the bowl he’d pushed towards him.

Hawke nodded again, grabbing the ingredients and attempting to put the correct amount on the scale. He’d put in a little too much butter, so he scraped some off with his knife to even out the number. Then he wiped the excess on the side of the bowl.

“No, don’t put it in the bowl you idiot. You’re using that to put your ingredients in, you’ll have too much if you put it all in now,” Fenris quickly chastised, taking the knife off him and scooping the butter back up off the bowl with a huff.

“Oh, right, sorry,” Hawke replied.

Fenris shook his head. This was going to be a long process.

Eventually, they managed to get there through Fenris’s instruction. There were many little slip-ups that Fenris was quick to correct and for that, Hawke was grateful. He was even more grateful for each time their hands brushed against one another. There were little sparks of electricity, ones that left goose-bumps up his arms. Admittedly, he was more distracted by Fenris’s graceful beauty as he told him what to do than focusing on the actual baking part.

“I like to add a little bit of cinnamon for Christmas cookies. Just gives it a bit of a kick,” Fenris said, sprinkling some cinnamon into the mixing bowl.

“You’re a genius,” Hawke mumbled, watching him do so. His heart skipped a beat when Fenris chuckled, deep and rumbling straight from his chest. It was the most wonderful sound he’d ever heard in his life and he wanted to hear it again.

Once everything was mixed into a dough-like mixture, they laid it out on the flour-dusted counter and began rolling it out with a rolling pin. When Fenris could tell it was about the right thickness, he quickly stopped him and got out the cookie cutters. They worked together to make as many cookies from the dough as they could. In the end, they came out with a grand total of thirty-six cookies. That was more than enough for Hawke’s office.

Fenris placed all of the cookies on the baking tray, lined with grease paper so they didn’t stick. He didn’t trust Hawke’s chubby fingers not to accidentally break the cookies apart, and it was a good job he didn’t. All of the cookies fit on the tray and he placed them in the oven.

“Should only take about ten minutes,” Fenris said with a hum. He set the timer on the oven and shot a small half-smile at Hawke, who only blushed and smiled in return. “Now come help me clean up.”

Hawke was eager to help, he had much to thank Fenris for after all. The cookies looked really good, he was sure to at least get close to winning the Christmas Baking competition. It depended on how well Merrill’s turned out, she was his main competition. The two of them put all the ingredients and equipment away except for what they needed to ice to the cookies, then wiped down all the surfaces.

In the process, the sweet scent of the baking cookies wafted in the air. If they tasted half as good as they smelled, Hawke couldn’t wait to try one. He’d have to wait until tomorrow, until the judging of the competition. In truth, he’d never been so excited for a competition in his life.

“You’re a really good baker,” Hawke said as they finished cleaning up. Now they just had to wait for the cookies, they only had a few more minutes. “Did someone teach you to bake?”

“No, I’m self-taught. It’s…just a hobby of mine,” Fenris told him, shaking his head.

Hawke’s eyes flickered over to him whilst he leaned against the counter. It was hard to believe that someone hadn’t taught him to bake the way he did. Of course, he’d never tasted anything Fenris baked but he’d have to be an idiot not to realise that they were no doubt good. The Maker must truly be smiling down on him to be blessed with such good looks and talented hands for baking. He was unduly enraptured by him, that was for sure. He’d never met anyone like him.

“Well you should be proud,” Hawke replied. He could’ve sworn he saw Fenris’s cheeks flush with red like Christmas lights.

They were both drawn away from the conversation by the sound of the oven beeping at them. Fenris grabbed his oven gloves and opened up the oven, taking the baking tray out filled with the cookies and placing it on the clean counter surface.

“They smell so good,” Hawke said, leaning down to deeply inhale the scent of the cookies. Sweet with that hint of cinnamon. When he called Fenris a genius, he really meant it. Being able to do this was art in itself.

“Let me ice them for you,” Fenris said, preparing the mixture while he waited for the cookies to cool enough for icing.

Hawke decided he would let him do that much at least. He seemed to want to, or maybe he just didn’t want him messing up his hard work. After all, he would hardly call himself an artist and he’d probably make a mess of the icing. He watched with interest as Fenris carefully spread the icing over the cookies. There wasn’t a single part out of place. It was honestly incredible, he was amazed that he wasn’t going out and winning competitions of his own.

Fenris used food colouring to create different coloured icings that he used to make pictures on the white icing he’d laid down. There was a Christmas tree, some presents, a Santa face, a snowman and reindeers. Then there…was that a penguin? Yeah. Definitely a penguin.

“Animals aren’t exactly my strong suit,” Fenris muttered as he noticed Hawke staring in confusion at some of the cookies.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, they all look amazing to me. I certainly couldn’t do this,” Hawke replied honestly. Okay so some of the animal ones didn’t look _great_ , but it was definitely a step up from what his would look like if he tried to do what Fenris was doing.

Once Fenris had iced all of the cookies, he grabbed some of the sugar. Hawke cocked an eyebrow as he wondered what he was going to do with it. Then he watched as Fenris sprinkled the sugar all over the tops of the cookies.

“Oh! It looks like snow!” Hawke exclaimed in recognition. Hawke’s awe made Fenris chuckle again, something he knew he’d treasure. He had such a nice laugh, it was a shame he didn’t laugh more often.

“That’s the point,” Fenris said with a hum. He put away the sugar and icing materials.

The two of them crowded around the cookies once everything was done. Fenris wasn’t sure that it was his best work, but Hawke seemed to gape at them, that was what mattered. These cookies were for him and his baking competition after all. Wouldn’t this be considered cheating? Oh well, he only had himself to blame if he got disqualified from the competition.

“It’s a shame we can’t eat them,” Hawke said, his mouth watering as he desperately wanted to pick up one of the cookies and take a bite. They just looked so good.

Then, an idea hit Fenris. He pushed the freshly baked cookies to one side, they had to cool a bit longer. The icing needed to properly harden yet. He walked over to one of his cupboards and pulled out a container that had a couple cookies inside it. They were the ones he’d made last night; the ones Hawke had seen him take out of the oven. He hadn’t eaten them all just yet, so he figured it wouldn’t hurt for Hawke to try them. After all, they were made with the same composition as the ones they’d just made.

“Have one of these. They’re the ones I made yesterday. Same ingredients,” he said, opening the container and handing it out towards Hawke.

“Really?” Hawke asked. When Fenris nodded, he reached in for one of the cookies and studied the design on the front. It was one of the Christmas tree ones, similar to one Fenris had decorated for his. He took the first bite and immediately ascended to Heaven. This was…easily the best cookie he’d ever eaten! He almost wanted to stop and savour it, but he couldn’t stop himself as he kept piling pieces of the cookie into his mouth until he was practically eating his own fingers. The texture was perfect, the hint of cinnamon tingling on his tongue. Plus, the sweetness of the icing not only tasted good but looked incredible. If he hadn’t watched Fenris make those cookies, he’d be tempted to believe these were store-bought from a bakery. “Sweet Maker Fenris, these are so good!”

Fenris put the lid back on the container and set them down on the counter. He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, unused to compliments like that. It did bode well for Hawke’s competition cookies though.

“I’m glad you like them. Usually it’s only me who eats them so you’re…the first to give me a second opinion,” he confessed. It wasn’t like he had friends to share them with. Hawke suddenly grabbed his shoulders, staring directly at him. Fenris couldn’t help but notice the crumbs of cookie in his beard.

“You should start selling these. You have a business in bakery on your hands right here,” Hawke said assuredly. Fenris wasn’t sure he was convinced but he gave him an awkward smile and nodded anyway.

Once the cookies had cooled, Fenris put them into a container and handed them to Hawke so he could take them home. Hawke was eager to take them, promising that he wouldn’t eat any of them before tomorrow’s competition. It was going to be hard though, he was probably going to have to lock them away somewhere just in case he was tempted to secretly snack on them during the night.

“Thank you. I’ll let you know how the competition goes,” Hawke told him.

“No problem,” Fenris replied, leaning in the doorway as Hawke walked outside. “See you later, Hawke.”

Hawke gave him a brief hug, one that caught Fenris completely off-guard and made his breath hitch. His cheeks had returned to that bright red colour as he timidly waved back at Hawke when he began to walk away.

 

To say he was nervous about the competition was an understatement. Hawke had resisted the urge to eat any of the cookies, but he was still sure that they were going to taste just as good as the one he’d had at Fenris’s house. He couldn’t wait to tell him how the competition went. Everyone stood around in the break room, mingling and looking over at all the cookies that had been laid out. Hawke’s eyes sought out the competition and could say with confidence that his looked the best with Merrill’s being a close second.

“Wow Hawke! You weren’t kidding, these look so good!” Merrill chirped, looking at the plate with his cookies on. His name was on a little sign just in front of them.

“Yours look good too Merrill,” he said politely, returning her beaming grin. “I guess we’ll have to see who comes out on top, huh?”

Everyone got to study each of the lots of cookies and then taste one from each set. Then everyone made a vote on who’s cookies were the best. Hawke knew that his were easily the best after tasting everyone’s cookies. Fenris had the hands of a God. Merrill was still his competition, but in order to be honest and true, he voted for her anyway. He couldn’t vote for himself after all.

Once the voting was over, everyone gathered in anticipation for the results. A few of his co-workers had found him during the process, praising him on how good his cookies were. He couldn’t be more thankful for Fenris’s existence. Even if he didn’t win, he couldn’t wait to tell him how everyone had loved his cookies.

“And the winner is…Garrett Hawke!”

Applause filled the room as Hawke stepped up to claim his cash prize which was sealed away in an envelope. He bowed to the crowd and grinned.

“You deserve it, those cookies were amazing!” Merrill said to him on his way back.

“Thank you,” he replied.

The rest of the cookies were free game to anyone who wanted to eat them. Everyone was on Hawke’s cookies like vultures, but Hawke managed to steal away two for him and Fenris to celebrate the good news. As he promised, he was going to give half of the cash prize to Fenris. He’d put in all the hard work after all.

 

After work, he headed happily over to Fenris’s place and knocked on the door. When Fenris opened the door, Hawke didn’t even notice the mistletoe hanging in the doorway. He was just happy to see Fenris’s face, so much that he opened with a big hug, nearly knocking the poor man off his feet.

“We won Fenris!” he cheered, laughing a little and grinning wider when Fenris hugged him back.

Slowly, they pulled away from each other after what was probably too long for a hug. Fenris had enjoyed being in the warmth of his body, face against his chest. When they parted, Fenris stopped Hawke half way, holding onto his arms. Hawke looked baffled but still smiling. It took seconds for Fenris to tug him down and meet his lips. Hawke blinked wildly but easily settled into the kiss. He put his hands on Fenris’s waist and kissed back, not knowing what was going on but hardly complaining.

As they parted, Hawke remained in shock, his lips tingling. He couldn’t believe what had just happened, that he’d just got the chance to kiss this beautiful man stood before him. Fenris pointed up to the doorway with flushed cheeks and Hawke’s eyes followed his gesture up to the mistletoe hanging there.

“Did you put that there for me?” he asked cheekily, moving in to the house.

“Perhaps,” Fenris replied, shutting the door behind Hawke and allowing him into his living room.

Hawke reached out to cup Fenris’s cheek, thumb running along his cheekbone. He wanted to kiss him again, but would it be appropriate? Instead, he continued to tease him: “What if the postman had come to the door? Would you have kissed them too?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Fenris said with a huff but he smiled. Hawke leaned in to kiss him again and Fenris was ever eager to respond.

Then Hawke fished the envelope out of his bag and handed half of the money over to Fenris.

“You don’t have to give me this,” he said.

“I want to,” Hawke replied.

There was a brief moment of silence between them as Fenris contemplated taking the money. It didn’t seem like Hawke was going to let up, so he figured he might as well just accept it. He had put in a lot of the work for those winning cookies after all.

“Another thing,” Hawke said, stopping Fenris before he could walk away by putting a hand firmly on his arm. “Everyone at work loved your cookies, I got so many compliments. I wanted to propose something to you,” Fenris stared at him inquisitively. “My friend, Varric Tethras, he’s a business man. You could make fortunes with your baking and he could definitely pull a few strings to set you up with your own little homemade bakery shop. We could even help you look for staff. I…really recommend you take the offer. I would visit every day.”

Fenris’s heart hammered in his chest. His own…bakery? He couldn’t deny that it was something he’d thought about but not seriously. It was a faraway fantasy that was bound to never come true. Now he was getting the opportunity to make it a reality and he knew he should probably take it and quit his job. But he was nervous.

“Are you…sure? That sounds like a dream, Hawke but I…” he began.

“Don’t worry. I’ll get everything sorted out. All you have to do is say yes,” Hawke interrupted him.

Swallowing roughly, Fenris took a few more moments to think about it, then stared down at the money in his hands that Hawke had given him. He was offering him a new life, a fresh start. Eventually, he looked up to meet his eyes: “Okay.”

Hawke laughed and hugged him tightly again, peppering his forehead with kisses. This was so exciting! He had to actually talk to Varric of course but it was definitely within the realm of possibility.

“Come on, I saved two cookies. We can eat them now,” Hawke cooed. Fenris smiled and nodded.

His life was turning around.

 

Several months down the line, Hawke did manage to get Fenris set up with a bakery. Today was the day of his grand opening. The building was a little small and quaint, but Fenris had said he didn’t want anywhere too big yet. It would be hard to maintain after all, especially when he was going to be short staffed at the beginning. Hawke strolled inside confidently, he and Fenris had agreed to date a little while after the competition and things were going as smoothly as ever.

“Why hello there, a batch of your finest cookies please,” he said, sliding up to the counter where Fenris stood. He had an apron tied around his body, his hair pushed back with a hairband. As always, he looked incredibly handsome.

“My first customer. Of course,” Fenris replied, smirking at him as he took out a batch of freshly made cookies that were iced with little patterns. He placed them in a cute branded bag and handed them over the counter after telling him the price. Hawke happily slid the money across to him.

He leaned across the counter to kiss him, it was brief and fleeting but still had the magic of their very first.

Yeah, things were going pretty good.


End file.
